Polenta e Uccellini alla Bresciana
Brescia, Lombardia
Brescia's celebrated autumn preparation: small whole roasted birds (traditionally thrushes, sparrows, or larks — now replaced by quail or woodcock due to hunting regulations) rested on a mound of soft, yellow polenta. The birds are threaded on a spit or roasted in the wood oven until the skin crisps and the juices run clear, then laid on the polenta which absorbs the roasting juices and rendered fat as the birds rest. The polenta becomes, in effect, the gravy-soaker.